Side Stories of Hasbroverse Earth

by RK_Striker_JK_5

Peace and Quiet

I look up at the clouds and stretch out. It's a nice day, in a nice field large enough to accommodate my size. Okay, I'm no Metroplex or even a combiner, but for Autobots, we've got to be mindful of our large size.

My peripheral sensors indicate approaching life signs. Instincts and programs honed by millennia of warfare kick in and I summon my weapons from internal subspace. Then I remember all I've got on me is a sonic stun cannon. Well, that and strength great enough to probably kill an Ursa Minor with my bare manipulators. My optics zoom in on an approaching pony and a small group of animals clustered around her. I summon datatrax as she comes fully into view...

Pink mane.
Yellow coat.
Female.
Pegasus subspecies
Cutie mark: three pink butterflies.

Ah, thank Primus. She skitters to a halt as she sees me. A large bear --well, large by their standards--injects itself between her and I. Okay, so I'm pretty intimidating even wielding a relatively nonlethal weapon. I hold a hand up, palm out. "Whoa easy there! Sorry for startling you. You're Fluttershy, right?"

She blinks and seems to shrink into herself. Heh, thought only we could do that. "Y-yes. h-h-how do you know me?"

I smile, thankful I've got a mouth instead of a mouthplate or grill. "I got briefed on the way over concerning local residents." I tap the side of my head. "Got everything about everyone right up here. Kinda like your friend Pinkie Pie. Well, except I don't plan parties." The tension remains in the air, and I figure it's time for me to go. I start sitting up. "If you'd like I can--"

She swallows and flies over right in front of my face. "N-no, M-mister." She lets out a cute sigh. "I'm sorry for being startled. You're an Autobot, right?" At my nod she shakes her head. "Megan told us about you. About how you saved Earth and all the humans and the entire galaxy!" She slowly smiles. "Please stay. My friends and I are having a picnic. Would you like to join us?" She stops and her brow furrows. Again, cutely. "Do Autobots have picnics?"

"This Autobot can." I sit up as she lays out a nice spread of Equestrian and animal-based foodstuffs. My olfactory sensors indicate it's well-made, and if I could process organic food, I'm sure it'd be delicious. She pours a cup of tea and timidly offers it to me. Ah, well. I've got a small reservoir I can store it in. She gasps as I extend a fine manipulator arm from my pinkie finger, take the teacup and sip from it before placing it back on the blanket.

I suppose an hour or so passes-except for an alarm to let me know when it's time to go back to the Rainbow Bridge, my internal chronometer's disabled-and the picnic winds down. We do small talk mostly, nothing too important. Fluttershy finally looks back up at me. "If you don't mind me asking, what brings you here?"

I shrug. "Peace and quiet. Compared to Cybertron or even Earth, this is quite peaceful. A lot of us old-timers have had our fill of war. The millions of years kinda blend together for us." My gaze drifts to the sky. "Old friends and family, permanently offline. Our home, nearly destroyed. Our species, nearly extinct.

Fluttershy suddenly flies up and tries her Primus-blessed best to hug my arm, and my fuel pump nearly melts. "I'm so sorry!" she cries out. I even feel tears from her. Tears!

My fine-manipulator arm extends once more and I gently pat her. "It's okay. We're a lot better. Hot Rod and Optimus Prime are leading us into a golden age, a true golden age! Humanity helped us win the Great War. We're doing so much better."

My internal alarm chimes, and my regret subroutines kick into high-gear. "Sorry, gotta go, Fluttershy." I slowly stand, careful not to disturb anything or anyone there. "I've got an appointment back at the Rainbow Bridge to teleport back to Earth. Duty calls."

She floats back, wipes her eyes with one foreleg and waves with the other. Her animal friends, a lot more sapient than I would've thought, wave their goodbyes as I wave back. Even the bear, Harry, pats me on my shin plating and growls good-naturedly at me.

As I turn and walk off down the path to Ponyville, I hear her call out once more. "Don't forget to come back! My cottage is always open for my friends!"

I turn and nod to her. For the first time in Primus-knows-how-long, my laser core feels at peace.

Author's Note:

First time I've ever done first-person singular. It's a bit of an experiment.

EDIT:

The identity of the Autobot will not be revealed by me.

Comments

[DreadedCandiru2]

Beachcomber, right?

[FanOfMostEverything]

Very nice. I can definitely see Equestria being a popular relaxation spot for Autobot veterans... though not many at the same time. There's only so much available surface area.

Also, I found the pinky-out teacup handling far funnier than I probably should've.

[Spiritus Arcane]

7300363
That'd be my guess.

[Pooba]

S'gotta be Beachcomber.

[Minevera]

7300363 Could be Mirage too. Supposedly he didn't bite the big one.

[BigLurker]

Definitely NOT Kup; no stories...

[Regreme]

Cute side chapter.^^

[Whiteeyes]

Hi Beachcomber!

[Nealend86]

Not hippy enough to be Beach Comber...

[Alticron]

Nice chapter, but there's a spot where you forgot to capitalize and "I".

Instincts and programs honed by millennia of warfare kick in and i summon my weapons from internal subspace.

[Valhuir]

For one, Beachcomber is too small to need a fine manipulator arm to handle a teacup, second he's rarely armed at all (even with a 'sonic stun cannon'), and third he's not strong enough to "probably kill an Ursa Minor with my bare manipulators.". The Sonic Stun Cannon rather implies it's either Jazz or Blaster, and the size rather more implies Blaster, who's about the size of Optimus Prime. Both are social and genial enough for this fic, so my money's on Blaster.

[LibraryNexus]

7300660
Except the Autobot didn't speak in rhyme, which I believe is how Blaster communicates.

[Valhuir]

7300681 Nope. The only 'bot to speak in rhyme was Wheelie. When he got excited, Blaster might 'jive', or do early rap, but he normally spoke, well, normally.

[Talon and Thorn]

Although I'm sure Beachcomber would adore Equestria the description doesn't really fit him and neither does the speech pattern, same with Blaster (Plus I'm sure he'd be hanging out with Vinyl).

Maybe Ironhide having a day off? Again the speech pattern doesn't really fit.

[Nealend86]

7300894
Maybe Springer?

[Talon and Thorn]

7300970

That's a good call.

[Emil]

Harry's got guts if he's willing to get into a fight he knows he can't win in order to let Fluttershy escape.

[Xanderfox]

Pretty vague which bot this is, I ca think of a few "tired of war" and "looking for peace". Sound like Beachcomber save one think, he has a scientific passion to think of. I am somehow feeling Kup here

[Semysane]

7300894 Wouldn't Ironhide be dead after the events of the movie?

[Discordigan]

What a really impressive one-shot.

[Talon and Thorn]

7301641

Your probably right, although I know Striker isn't a fan of the movie so he might have resurrected a few of the casualties.

[Parchment_Scroll]

7301558
I was thinking the same thing, but...

7300458
...that is a very good point.

[Kenshinryuu]

Very adorable chapter, well done.

[Tito-Mosquito]

I believe it's Beachcomber too. No mouthplate or grill, that definitely leaves out Optimus Prime and Wheeljack.

[jacen]

From the speech patterns, sense of humor, and weapon choice... my first guess is Jazz.

[Secret Titan]

I do not know why, but I think that autobot can be Steeljaw.

[Pinklestia]

Yeah peace and quiet are good once in a while.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

8158792 You have my blessing.